


Dog for a Day

by ReptileRuler



Category: Shaun the Sheep (Cartoon)
Genre: Bodyswap, Gen, follows the cartoon canon, not sweet lu-la from the new movie trailer, the one eyed aliens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:18:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReptileRuler/pseuds/ReptileRuler
Summary: Aliens are back at it again, and Shaun is caught up in it as usual!





	Dog for a Day

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS SHORT but at least it's out of my system

Last time Shaun was abducted by aliens, he’d been teleported into their spaceship and had his brain replaced with the Pisley’s. This time, he doesn’t remember anything in particular that happened. Well… Maybe he’d briefly woken up by a green light, but he’d decided to just fall back asleep. Some nights just aren’t meant for adventures.

Either way, he wasn’t terribly shaken by the fact that when he opened his eyes he was decidedly not in the barn. The wall in front of him was the wrong color, and when he stretched he noted that he had yellow paws instead of hooves.

Oh, he thought, I’m in Bitzer’s body. Hahah, then Bitzer would probably freak out when he woke up surrounded by the other sheep. This could be fun!

Shaun sat up and stretched, donning Bitzer’s hat and putting Bitzer’s whistle around his neck. He stared warily at the clipboard with today’s chores, and promptly left it in the doghouse. Who needed that, anyway? Bitzer, probably, but he kind of worked too hard.

Taking care to be out of range for the swinging door, Shaun greeted the farmer and followed toward the barn. The farmer cocked his head at him and said something. Maybe the real Bitzer would have understood - he was better at human that the sheep were, but Shaun just looked at him, face scrunched up as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do.

Finally the farmer shrugged and patted him. So it hadn’t been anything important, then.

Shaun hurried to the barn, peeking in before the farmer got the chance to. Indeed, Bitzer was pacing around in Shaun’s body, muttering to himself as he tried to figure out what in the world had happened this time. Standing in a circle around him were the flock, curious as always, wondering the same thing but not nearly as spooked as the dog.

Still chuckling to himself, Shaun bleated happily and waved at them. Bitzer spun around and stared. He pointed a Shaun questioningly and Shaun nodded. Yup, it was him. Yup, he knew what was up. When Bitzer had this confirmed he jumped to the conclusion that it must be Shaun’s fault and growled, walking towards him.

First of all, unfair! Not every mishap was his fault! Second of all, how would he even do this!? He liked to think of himself as pretty inventive, but without some seriously out of reach technology he prolly couldn’t make two people switch brains.

Not that he wouldn’t try, given the chance, but…

Shaun shook his head and held up a hand, glancing back at the farmer, who was tapping his foot against the ground just a few meters away. Luckily, Bitzer got the gist and stopped with a huff. Shaun gestured for him to get down on his four legs and then waved for the flock to come out.

“Huh?” Said the farmer as the flock hesitantly walked towards the grazing grounds. That was weird - it wasn’t even raining so why would they be so careful?

Bitzer walked up to Shaun and cleared his throat. He whistled sharply and then looked at the whistle hanging around his neck. Oh, yeah. That’s what he was supposed to do.

Everything moved smooth from then on. The farmer didn’t suspect a thing! Not even when Shaun almost flopped down to graze with the rest of the flock (he’d have to thanks Bitzer later, for throwing a pebble on the farmer and distracting him enough that Shaun could get himself together and keep up the act).

Speaking of, there he was. Right on front of him! And oh, he looked angry.

What? Shaun gestured, looking around. Bitzer pointed at him, then at himself, then raised his eyebrows expectantly.

How are we gonna turn back?

Shaun shrugged. He had meant to just roll with it until something happened…. It wore off or the aliens were done with experimenting or they had to flee the country for blowing their cover. Apparently that was a bad idea, because Bitzer started pacing nervously again. There really was no need - Shaun could keep up the appearance! Honestly, how hard could it be?

He smiled reassuringly, and patted his friend on the shoulder. Bitzer shook his head in aggravation and gestured to the feeding station (empty), then the chicken coop (overflowing with eggs) and finally the laundry hangar (empty, but the basket on the ground was full of wet clothes). That’s what he was worried about? He couldn’t do his work while looking like Shaun - that would tip off the farmer - and Shaun hadn’t really bothered.

Ugh, he was gonna have to do them, wouldn’t he? Just so that Bitzer didn’t have a heart attack while stuck in Shaun’s body - that would suck. What would even happen? Would he die too??

He held up a finger, telling him to wait right there, and ran off to retrieve the to-do list. In just minutes he skidded to a halt in front of Bitzer. He proudly pointed at the list, and then himself. Somehow Bitzer didn’t look all that reassured.

Meh, he was just being too apprehensive. It’d all be fine once Shaun showed him that he could do everything he did in a day and get away with it. He gave a lazy salute and tried to bark. It didn’t sound… great, but he could just keep quiet. No problem.

Stay right there, he mimed and ran off despite his friend’s protest. What was the first thing on the list? Ah, count the sheep. He glanced at the flock. They were all there, so he just drew a tick over the entire page and flipped it. Feed sheep. He strolled over to the bags with sheep pellets and eyed it. His tummy growled.

Later. Priority one was to show Bitzer that he wouldn’t screw up. Oooh, but what if he snuck some fresh veggies in with the dry food? The flock would love him, and that would benefit Bitzer too! Yes, this was a good idea. He’d just over to the vegetable land and pick up some…

His arms were overflowing with carrots and cabbage when he heard the farmer’s whistling come closer. Gasping, he dove over the stonewall and hid on the other side.

“What!?” the farmer exclaimed, and Shaun heard him walk around the little plot of land. He giggled and snuck away with all the veggies.

-

What’s all this?? Bitzer gestured at the vegetables that Shaun had proudly dumped in their feeding station. Shaun just grinned and shrugged, taking a bite off a carrot. The flock all bleated happily at the treat, and Bitzer had to approve of that at least, however begrudgingly. As long as Shaun didn’t tell him how it was all stolen freshly from the farmlands, it would be fine.

He made a show of ticking the box on the to-do list and grinned at Bitzer. Bitzer relaxed slightly now that he saw that things were running along despite the situation.

See? Told you it’d be fine, Shaun bleated, then put a paw over his mouth. The farmer looked up from whatever he was doing and tilted his head in their direction. A moment later, Shaun remembered that he was allowed to wave. The farmer pointed to fingers at his glasses, and then at Shaun. Phew, he sighed when the human went back to work.

He chuckled sheepishly (heh) at Bitzer’s cautious glare, then pointed at the clipboard and took off. Okay, he had to get the chicken eggs then hang the laundry…

Then re-count the sheep, take stock on the hay, change oil in the tractor, write the shopping list, count the sheep again… make sure no wildlife had destroyed the fences, do the dishes, order more chicken food, clean the barn … cut firewood, fold laundry…

He gasped as the paper unfolded and revealed itself to be roughly four times longer than anticipated.

Okay, so maybe this would be a little bit harder then he thought…

-

He could barely keep his eyes open as he let the flock into the barn that evening. Bless the barn door for being there for him to lean on until he could leave for bed. Bitzer, who looked quite happy after having technically had a day off (as long as he stood around and pretended to graze when the farmer walked past) walked up to him.

Shaun waved the stupid clipboard at him and he looked through it. Everything on the list was ticked off. Shaun felt a surge of pride when the dog first looked impressed and then smiled approvingly. Even if he hadn’t had time to fool around today, he’d take the fact that Bitzer was happy and count it as a win.

They shared a high five and Shaun let out a big yawn. Bitzer chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. Hopefully tomorrow would be back to normal, because Shaun, admittedly, would much rather have no obligations outside of keeping up their cover to the farmer. He closed the barn after waving goodnight to Bitzer and the flock and then intended to crash into Bitzer’s bed.

Then the farmer called for him. Shaun sighed and shook himself awake as he walked to the house. He was gonna salute but suspected it looked more like he was slapping his own forehead with the back of his paw.

Luckily the farmer didn’t seem to care. He chuckled loudly and spoke happily about something (Shaun really wished he’d bother to learn human) then ruffled the fur on his head. He gestured to the clipboard and then gave thumbs up. That at least, Shaun understood! He hadn’t just pleased Bitzer, but the farmer too!

After always hiding from the farmer, Shaun hadn’t realized how nice it was to get recognition for something he did. Being petted and praised after a hard day’s work felt really good - now he understood why Bitzer worked so hard every day. And if he wagged his tail it was definitely just some dog instinct left in Bitzer’s body. The farmer chuckled and reached behind him, pulling out a big bone and holding it out. Oh. No thanks. Shaun smiled awkwardly and accepted it just to avoid suspicion.

Just then, Pidsley the cat walked into the house and in the process brushed against his leg. Shaun jumped and accidentally let out a surprised “Beeh!”

“Huh?” Both Pidsley and the farmer stopped to look at him. Oops. He pretended to cough as he backed away, then turned around and escaped to Bitzer’s doghouse. Behind him he heard the farmer mutter something unintelligible and close the door.

Whew, close call. At least they hadn’t decided to follow him. Sighing in relief, Shaun put the bone on an empty shelf and promptly collapsed in Bitzer’s bed.

Being acknowledged by the farmer had been nice, but he still hoped he’d wake up in his own body tomorrow. Seeing farm life from a new perspective had given him several new ideas for fun games to play with the flock, and he couldn’t wait to try them out.

**Author's Note:**

> I have some continuation ideas but im gonna mark it as complete so that I don't disappoint anyone :0


End file.
